


Steve Rogers' Field Guide To Deciphering Tony's Moods By Tail

by misbehavingvigilante



Series: Marvel Spookytober Prompts 2019 [10]
Category: Avengers Academy (Video Game)
Genre: 5 Things, Demon Tony Stark, Fluff, M/M, Magical Girls, Pining Steve Rogers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-11
Updated: 2019-10-11
Packaged: 2020-12-07 23:28:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20984162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misbehavingvigilante/pseuds/misbehavingvigilante
Summary: Five times Steve reads Tony's mood by his tail without Tony realizing it, and the one time Tony knowingly lets Steve read his mood by his tail.





	Steve Rogers' Field Guide To Deciphering Tony's Moods By Tail

**Author's Note:**

> [{Join me for the spook}](https://marvelspookytoberprompts.tumblr.com/post/188006745165/click-to-see-a-better-quality-of-the-prompts)
> 
> Day 10 - Demons 
> 
> This is mostly fluff but it does brush up on some unhappy topics but my mind is shot, okay to think of what they might be. No major warnings apply at least. 
> 
> Also meant to be AvAc verse, but I'm not quite sure that... worked, but I did make an attempt by them both dumb, young and in love.
> 
> Also also based on the Demon Girl Next Door but not a direct AU, more like inspired by.

Their town was an unusual one compared to the rest of the world when magical girls and demons girls were often locked in constant combat with each on sight. Of course, girl in this case was gender neutral, as it traced back to the fact that assigned female at birth individuals were more likely to have such abilities and bloodlines.

That said, the lack of outright combat didn’t fix all problems as history that bloody and long didn’t disappear overnight. Steve had not had much in the way of a problem with his magical girl status aside from the stray magical girl or demon girl that bucked the trend until Tony Stark.

The Stark family had been cursed when Tony was young, which had caused Tony ill health and had in turn killed both of his parents which had been all things together, a rather extreme penalty for a curse. Inconveniences and illnesses weren’t uncommon but to go so far and kill? That had been a step out of the line, and the magical girl had been stripped of their power and it had been one of the many sparks that had eventually lead to their town being as peaceful and serene was it was.

Naturally, though, when Tony had awaken to his demon heritage, he hadn’t been very keen on magical girls.

~ Anger ~

It was the first time that Steve had learnt that on Tony, since it varied by the person, if his tail was curved over his shoulders but within his line of sight as his heart shaped tip pointed outwards, as if ready to lance anyone who came too close that it meant he was angry. Tony’s tail looked thin and soft from what Steve had imagined so the idea he could actually stab anyone with the tail was unlikely but since demon girls had their own magic as well, nothing was impossible.

Tony’s entire aura then had radiated anger and distance as all Steve did was watch from afar as they may have went to the same high school, but had no real classes in common. Seemingly without Tony even realizing it himself, that had seemed to be first manifestation of his magic outside from the horns and tail it was, to push people away with a gentle pressure, which increased in intensity the darker his emotions got.

While Steve hadn’t been close to Tony, he knew enough of the man that was Tony’s guardian, and Steve had his own magic enough to know there wasn’t a trace in demon blood in his veins, but the association was there. Meaning there was knowledge that he could pass onto Tony, but no actual experience himself.

As much as Tony wanted to be left alone, he was eventually going to hurt someone and regardless of his very understandable feelings against magical girls, so Steve stepped in.

“Do you want a fight?” Tony glared at him, no doubt sensing the magic in Steve’s veins as well and the pressure against him mounted, pushing his hair out of place but Steve held his ground since he had never been easy to move to begin with. When Steve had woken up to his magical girl heritage, it had been to realizing that he had turned sturdy overnight when once a hard breeze might have been able to knock him over even hurricane force winds struggle to do that now. It was interesting that he and Tony were so polarizing even in abilities.

“I don’t want to fight.” Steve held up his hands. He vaguely wondered if he pretended to be affected if that would put Tony more at ease, and naturally lower the amount of offensive magic aimed towards him. “But I do want to help you.”

“I don’t need your help.”

“Do you want to accidentally hurt someone?” Steve asked instead, not deterred. “Because that what’s going to happen if you don’t learn some control.”

Tony gritted his teeth, slightly elongated into well… Steve hated to think it, but it looked like the baby fangs you’d see on a kitten. It was probably the tail, even if Tony’s tail was entirely remove of fur, not even something similar to velvet antler and looking like it might have the texture more of scaleless reptile.

“And you’re a bastion of control?”

“No, not always.” Steve admitted. “It helps to reign in your emotions but also find something that keeps you calm. I can teach you a few of my tricks-“

“I don’t need your help.” Tony repeated and turned his back to Steve and walked off. Various objects near Tony moved even long before he approached them and Steve sighed, he had tried at least.

~ Happy ~

Tony had been absent for a week and Steve had wondered vaguely if he was going to show up again or if he’d just transfer schools. This was probably going to be the best city for Tony, Steve was worried what it might be like if he had to move to another one.

Some cities were more pro demon girl or magical girl leaving them as a sort of haven, even if that meant a certain amount of chaos.

Of course, it was also possible that Tony could have genuinely been sick and not considering ditching the city, Steve wasn’t sure why that thought upset him so much, it wasn’t like he really knew Tony. And Tony had made it rather clear, he really wasn’t keen on befriending someone like Steve, either.

Which was fine, Steve understood, it was totally fine.

Steve had mostly been poking his food which spoke to how much his thoughts were currently consumed by Tony. After the change, he had been hungrier, it had taken a lot more to make sure he stayed well-fed compared to before.

“Are you thinking about the Stark kid, again?” Bucky’s voice had Steve turning to see his best friend sit down beside him after apparently having gotten himself lunch.

“He’s not really subtle about it.” Natasha said. “Even though, I can hear his stomach growling from here.”

Steve rolled his eyes, thinking of a comeback to that when he spied a familiar set of curled horns in the distance. Tony’s horns were vaguely reminiscent of a ram with very tightly curled horns close to his head that only that only barely pointed up into a sharp point. Not exactly the kind of horns you could ram or spear someone with.

If Steve was honest, they looked a bit more like cinnamon rolls than ram horns, but maybe he was just very, very hungry.

But Tony’s tail wasn’t in its anger position instead it stood up but not to it’s full height with several bends in it meaning it wasn’t completely straight and the heart shape tip was pointed up but in a relaxed position. It looked like Tony was laughing from a distance and more so he just looked happy for once.

“Is it like we’re even here or is he just ignoring us?” Steve was pretty sure that was Sam’s voice, had Sam always been here but his attention was elsewhere.

Tony was happy and surrounded by what seemed like friends. Had he made them during his absence or had he always had them and Steve just hadn’t noticed? His main point of contact was Tony in the hallways or spotting him on his way home from school.

Steve made a note to remember their appearances so he could ask around and see what he could find out. From this distance he could sense that they were both human, so that wasn’t the connection between him.

Tony was a rather good student enough so that there had been rumors of him going to college early if only he reigned in his behavior.

He had never really bothered to look at Tony at lunch before.

“And we’ve lost him. If he’s not going to eat this then I will.” Steve wasn’t really sure which of his friend said that, just that everything on his lunch tray had disappeared as he focused on the fact he couldn’t find that thread of repulsion magic from earlier that had been ever present.

~ Alarmed ~

It didn’t happen very often, but there were gaps in their town’s defense which meant on occasion an errant magical girl or demon girl that really didn’t want to abide by their rules would come in and wreak havoc.

That had been the bulk of Steve’s hands-on experience thus far as he worked for an organization aptly named SHIELD to deal with such threats.

From the Intel so far, it seemed like a repeat offender too.

Steve didn’t know what he was going to do if it was Brock again, he had seemed charming at first, Steve had sensed a kindred spirit but he had turned out to be such a dick and had such a vendetta against demon girls that it had been a real turn off.

Needless to say, he’d gotten removed from the city, stuck to a magical girl city for all that Steve knew thanks to SHIELD Intel, and occasionally came back here to stir up trouble.

The only thing that had really changed since Brock’s last appearance had been Tony.

Steve felt something uneasy run through him at thought and the following one, Brock knew about Tony’s history having been born in this town as well… meaning Tony could very well be one of his targets.

Steve hoped he was wrong but he knew Brock liked to target new awakened demon girls, they were weaker due to a lack of experience, after all.

Steve transformed in a seas of red, white and blues as light engulfed him and changed him into his magical girl outfit that was actually quite practical with the exception of the forehead wings he sprouted on each side of his head.

He never understood that part of the transformation but his shield came to leave, strapped onto his arm and a star emblazoned on his chest as he went to track down Brock. 

When Steve finally arrived, Tony’s tail was completely rigid, stranding to it full height well above his head, paired with his body posture, it was fairly clear that Tony was alarmed. Not quite angry, but alarmed at being attacked.

However, Tony didn’t appear hurt, though the surrounding did look like it was a miss only because of Tony’s repulsion abilities kicking in.

“Rumlow.” Steve said, putting himself in front of Tony and his magical shield already at the ready to be deploy if things escalated from here and his presence wasn’t enough of determent. Steve didn’t really think it would. There was no loss love on Brock’s end for him, either.

“What the hell are you doing here, Rogers?” Tony asked, his tail switching from his alarmed position back to angry.

Admittedly, Steve hadn’t seen that coming, he assumed it would have been obvious why he was here. “…I’m helping you?”

“Does it look like I need your help?”

Brock didn’t allow them to continue their conversation taking advantage of that as Steve held his shield up and blocked the onslaught of offensive magic, pulling Tony into his arm to better help protect him from the damage though it earned him an undignified squawk.

Steve belated realized he had grabbed Tony’s tail to bring him in, he hadn’t had much time to process the texture, but it was soft like he thought it was.

“Move the shield so I can blow him away.”

“Or I keep the shield where it is, and I deal with him while I give an escape route.”

“I’m not some damsel in distress for you to save.” Tony glared, and ah, that was familiar. Steve vaguely wondered if he could get Tony to look at him with any other expression while Tony tried to wiggle out of reach but only was able to free a single hand. Tony’s hand curved out slightly, making it difference than a signal for stop as he closed his eyes, a glow of blue energy appeared and targeted Rumlow and while it didn’t give blow him away as Tony had said, it did get him off balance enough.

Steve threw his shield at Rumlow that Tony had seemingly stunned too with his ability, and succeeded in knocking the other out temporarily.

Magical girls tended to heal quickly as it would, it would be long enough for Steve to bring him back into SHIELD and figure out what they would do this time.

“Okay, now that’s all over and down with, I’m going home.”

“He sometimes doesn’t work alone.” Not that had been able to find out much, nothing made sense about the people Brock allied himself with, but there seemed to be a connecting point somewhere just that they hadn’t found it yet.

“Is… are you trying to ask me to let you walk me home?”

“…I don’t mean it like that.” Steve flushed, understanding now how that could have sounded. “I meant purely from a safety standpoint.”

“Uh huh.” Tony rolled his eyes, and then began to walk away, only to glance back at Steve. “I guess I should say thanks, at least.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Yeah, yeah…”

~ Worried ~

After that things aren’t immediately better, but Tony is in general a better mood around him and even makes an attempt to get to know him.

To say that Steve is thrilled is a bit of an understatement but at least his friends seem happy he’s not moping over Tony anymore, although apparently all of them do complain he talks about Tony far too much.

Steve didn’t really think he talked about Tony _that_ much. He was happy that they were becoming friends and able to put the bad blood that really wasn’t either of their faults, but nonetheless still their legacies behind them and move forward.

With this new change in their relationship, it meant that Steve was even better at reading Tony than before thus realizing that when Tony encircled himself with his own tail that it meant something was bothering him.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Steve asked, not really wanting to push Tony because while they were friends, it was still new.

Tony still talked more to Pepper, Rhodey and Jan who Steve now knew firsthand how protective they were over Tony, after both of them had threatened him when Tony started to bring around for lunch. They hadn’t quite worked up to all their friends lunching together yet.

“I don’t know, I think I’m just imagining it…” Tony shrugged, apparently unconvinced.

Steve had heard a lot of Tony’s tone before but doubt was a new one. “About what?”

“It’s Obie, he’s been kinda weird recently?” Tony didn’t really know how else to explain it which was sucky because he was usually good with words. “I figure it’s just because of you, and I get it, making friends with a magical girl with my history? I’d get how he’d disapprove but you know, you’re actually pretty nice. I was a dick to you when you didn’t do anything to deserve it.”

“You’re apologizing?” Steve blinked, he hadn’t expected that.

Tony rubbed the back of his neck, his tail curling around him closer and closer until it was almost wrapping around his body like a large ribbon. Steve barely held back a comment professing how cute Tony looked like that knowing that this was important, and he didn’t need to say the wrong thing and scare Tony off.

“I felt bad, okay?” Tony muttered, not looking at Steve. “I just don’t want you to see Obie either because he might say something and I don’t want you to feel bad again, okay?”

“Okay.” Steve agreed, easy as that. “Maybe with enough time, he’ll stop being weird?”

“I hope so.” Tony nodded. “So Jan was saying that my friend and your friends should get to know each other better. So we could all eat lunch together I guess, even though I’m pretty sure Jan knows your friends already.”

“She does seem to know the entire school.” Steve had been impressed, he hadn’t talked much to Jan yet but her talent in fashion and socialization were second to none. “I’m sure my friends would be fine with it, they uh… I’ve told them a lot about you?”

“Good things, I hope?” Tony snickered.

“Of course. I wouldn’t talk bad about you behind your back.”

Tony blinked, but then looked away again for a moment Steve thought he saw Tony’s face heating up but then the bell was ringing to head back to class, therefore distracting him from such thoughts.

~ Unmotivated ~

Waiting had seemed to have been the wrong option, Steve wanted to kick himself for not connecting the dots earlier but it wasn’t quite like any of them had known until it was too late. But it made sense of many things all at once, yes, some magical girls held vendettas but the one that had gone after the Stark family had been a blip, a ghost of sorts, with no known reason so that had been the reason why assigned.

Apparently, it had been much more than that because the only thing the Stark family had been left with was wealth, and by getting rid of Tony’s parents, and Tony not yet being of age, it meant anyone who took care of Tony would thus get their hands on it.

It seemed as if Obadiah had gotten nervous when Tony made friends with Steve as Steve hadn’t quite made a secret that he had joined up with SHIELD, and thus because of him, Steve had unknowingly put Tony in danger.

Not that Tony hadn’t handle it, over the weeks between that conversation and now, Steve had helped Tony learn more and more of his abilities even if Tony was pretty intuitive and didn’t need much in the way of his instruction. It had meant they were really friends now, instead of just friends that might stop being friends at the drop of a hat.

Despite all that time, Steve had never seen Tony’s tail like this before completely flat behind him, and laying on the floor, not even risen to keep it above such to prevent it from getting dirty just limp and lifeless. Entirely unmotivated to do anything about that but how could Tony really care about that right now with the weight of everything that had just happened.

Steve didn’t know what to say, or even why Tony had called him over instead of one of his other friends, he was sure even if Tony didn’t tell them, they’ve find out, and it would turn into a ‘We love Tony Stark’ party as hosted by Jan and attended by anyone who had the least amount of amicable feeling towards Tony to cheer him up and remind him there was good in this world.

“It’s…” Steve started, not quite sure where to go from here, or if Tony really wanted to hear that it would be okay. More than likely it would be but it was probably just that Tony wanted to mourn right now that the man who had raise him most of his life had been a monster in every sense of the world.

Far more monstrous than Tony ever would be with a pair of horns and a tail.

Steve hugged Tony instead when Tony looked at him with watery eyes and tear-stained cheeks. He had always been a man of action, and tended to struggle with his words unless when he got in the rare good speech.

Tony’s tail wrapped around him, pulling him in closer as Tony cried against his chest and Steve just held him.

If anything, Tony’s tail off the ground at least meant he was however marginally better than before. Steve would do whatever he could to make sure Tony would never feel so bad again.

~ Loved ~

The whole demon heritage thing had been a bit of surprise. It had changed both a lot and not a lot at the same time. Tony had grown used to his red tail and his golden horns relatively quickly, the teeth had been a bit tricky, he had more than once accidentally ran his tongue across his teeth and came back with blood with their added edge. It wasn’t much, granted, but still, it got in the way until he trained himself out of the habit with time.

The magic had been the trickier part, and as much as his friends had helped, Tony had to admit, he wouldn’t have caught on so fast if it wasn’t for Steve.

Wasn’t that the story of his life? More had change with Steve entering his life than him becoming a demon girl.

Things were good with Steve which was good because Tony wasn’t sure what he would do if things weren’t okay with Steve. After Obie, picking himself up after that had been a trial in itself, but Steve had been there every step of the way along with the rest of his friends, and although the experience had been traumatic, one bright side was it brought him and Steve closer.

It was hard to imagine there had ever been a time where he and Steve hadn’t been on good terms. Not that they didn’t fight on occasion, but nothing seemed capable of breaking their friendship apart.

Well, nothing aside from maybe his big fat crush on Steve, that was.

All his friends knew and Jan especially insisted that Steve liked him back and that one of them needed to make a move already before they graduated preferably.

Thus why he called Steve over to his place, like he had many, many times before so it wasn’t like Steve should think there was anything new or unusual about it. Steve had barely gotten past the threshold of the door where Tony acted.

He moved his tail up and above resting directly above the space between Steve and him as he drew very close to Steve.

“T-Tony?”

Tony pointed up, not sure if his words would fail him now and he had pretty quickly caught onto the fact that Steve read his moods using his tail fairly regularly. He had never showed this expression to anyone before, but Steve should be able to figure out with the context clues, at least.

Steve looked up, paused for a moment, and then a beautiful blush covered his face. “O-Oh.” Steve said softly, so softly that Tony wouldn’t have had heard if they weren’t so close together but then, there was a slight nod thereafter which Tony took as a positive sign.

He leaned forward and kissed Steve as his heart shape tail hovering above them acted like a makeshift mistletoe.

It was still a surprise when Steve kissed back, but it was a happy surprise.

Tony never quite imagined a magical girl could have made his life so much better, but nonetheless, he was very happy that he had gotten to meet Steve.

Even more, that he had gotten to kiss Steve.

**Author's Note:**

> If you wanna chat, I'm on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/thiefoftruth26/).


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